Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

With Jhonny Peralta’s future up in the air, what would be the more pressing need for the Tigers as the trade deadline approaches: reliever or filling the hole at shortstop?

The Milwaukee Brewers are dead to rights in the NL Central (41-58, last place entering Wednesday night). Braun’s contract is guaranteed. Sports fans are disgustingly forgiving. So all this amounts to is a few months of shame, a full round of media bashing and a giant cloud over a player’s career. The Brewers aren’t going to get hurt, at least not on the field. And Braun isn’t going to get hurt, at least in his wallet.

The case of Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta is far more intriguing.

If Peralta were to draw a 50-game suspension, the Tigers would be affected dramatically. Would Peralta appeal and risk entering free agency this off-season with a 50-game suspension looming over the 2014 season? Would he take the suspension and hope to return in time for the postseason? Would the Tigers even want him back for the postseason?

The Giants famously rejected outfielder Melky Cabrera last fall en route to the title. The difference was the Giants players felt betrayed by Cabrera’s actions, particularly his cover-up. There’s no evidence the Tigers feel anything but love for Peralta, although Max Scherzer’s strong statements about Braun could certainly apply to a teammate as well if he’s caught red-handed. There are some reports that while Peralta may be linked to Biogenesis, he may not in fact be linked to PEDs.

The bottom line is this – we don’t know anything. Peralta denies involvement in the Biogenesis scandal and he’s certainly entitled to be innocent until proven guilty. The problem, of course, is that every single athlete who’s ever denied involvement with PED use – from Mark McGwire to Lance Armstrong to Andy Pettite to Braun has ultimately confessed. There’s not a very strong track record of players who claimed innocence and were ultimately exonerated (put your hands down, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. We’re not stupid).

So while Peralta is owed some leeway, he also suffers from guilt by association – not his association with other names on Tony Bosch’s list – but instead his association with every athlete who’s ever been accused of using PEDs. He’d almost be the first player ever to be wrongly accused.

But while we sit here and wait and wonder, rest assured that the Tigers are doing no such thing. If you think for a minute that GM Dave Dombrowski is dealing with the same level of information that we are, then you’re fooling yourself. As Tiger fans debate what deadline moves the team should make, not knowing what Peralta is going to do, rest assured that Dombrowski knows a little bit more.

Teams may not be privy to every step along the investigation or the penalty phase, but they’re also not surprised by the outcome either. The Brewers were very aware of the impending Braun suspension. The Yankees are very well aware of what’s going on with Alex Rodriguez. And something tells me that Dombrowski has been in close contact with Peralta, his agent, union head Michael Weiner and Major League Baseball to get a sense of what might happen and when it might happen.

The trade deadline is next Wednesday. By the time it rolls by, I fully expect Dombrowski to acquire at least one arm and perhaps two to add to the bullpen. Bruce Rondon has been a nice surprise over the past month. And Rick Porcello will likely move into a relief role once the playoffs begin. Those are two more arms to add to Jim Leyland’s options to go along with Drew Smyly and Joaquin Benoit. Ideally, he’d like to have another option or two. Phil Coke is completely unreliable. Al Albuquerque remains enigmatic. And the rest of the relief pitchers have little to no experience in pressure-packed games.

But Dombrowski will also have to tip his hand as to what he knows if no Peralta news becomes public by next week. The Giants last year picked up Hunter Pence at the trade deadline from the Phillies. A few weeks later, Cabrera was lost for the year. Clearly, the Pence move was insurance knowing that they were going to lose their top hitter for the rest of the season.

Dombrowski will do the same if he senses (or knows) that he’ll need a shortstop for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. But if the deadline passes and the Tigers’ only moves are to acquire relievers, that’s a rather strong sign that Dombrowski knows that Peralta isn’t going anywhere. There’s also minor league shortstop Argenis Diaz playing in Toledo. His reputation is all glove, no bat. But still, he might be able to man the position in the field with Peralta out if not the position in the batting order.

Baseball is a murky business. It’s hard to deal with the moral implications of putting your season in the hands of players who may have broken the rules. It’s obvious by now that plenty of GMs and plenty of managers have looked the other way on things as long as the balls have left the yard and the wins have piled up. Fans are just as guilty of such transgressions. We curse the cheaters on other teams, but willingly make excuses for the potential cheaters on our teams.

This is not to suggest that the Tigers should turn away from Peralta, nor should the fans. He’s innocent for now. And perhaps he’ll be innocent going forward. But if he’s cleared, it’s only a matter of time until another suspect comes along and we hope against hope that the next guy has been wrongly accused as well.

Jhonny Peralta will be the Tigers shortstop until he’s not. Dombrowski will clearly make the moves necessary to account for whatever punishment is coming Peralta’s way. He’s not making those moves completely in the dark.

If Peralta is suspended and the Tigers season goes down the drain, then shame on Peralta for taking us down this road. The Tigers have simply done what every other team in baseball has done during this long, painful process. They’ve put the best team on the field that they can, and they’ve hoped against hope that all the results that they’re seeing on the field are totally natural. Normally, they are. But just as normally, the accused are found guilty.